The sun briefly appeared through the clouds and gave a pleasing glint off Garratt 282F0421's side in the yard outside ARMF's workshops in Lleida.
Friday 24 September 2010
Bath to Lleida
I was running a day later than intended thanks to French air traffic control being on strike the day before. It had been my plan to have arrive in Lleida the evening before so that I could have the day helping to prepare the ARMF train for Saturday's 'Tren dels Llacs' run to La Pobla de Segur and back. At least Friday wasn't a crucial day in my plan so, whilst annoyed it was changed at the last minute, at least it meant I didn't have to miss the trip.
I parked up in Bath early in the morning then walked to Bath Spa railway station. A quick train journey to Bristol Temple Meads was followed by the bus journey out to Bristol Airport. Once checked in, which was quick and painless, it was off through the pain in the neck which is security in the modern era. Once this hurdle was over I had a couple of hours to kill waiting for the 10:30 easyJet departure to Barcelona. It seemed things were running OK with the French back at work. So, right time, we are called for the plane and boarded. I managed to sit pretty near the front and it was obvious fairly quickly that something was amiss. Once everyone was on and sat down it was announced that we would be delayed as the French were not entirely back to normal. Great! It was suggested we might be waiting for up to 2 hours for a slot but that we had to sit on the plane ready to go otherwise we could not be accepted as a plane wanting a slot. Naturally this delay did not go down too well. It got me thinking as I had to get from Barcelona airport to Sants station, in the centre of the city, for a high speed Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) service out to Lleida. A 2 hour delay seemed to me to be pretty terminal for this plan. It would give me just 20 minutes to get my bag, find a taxi, get to the station, through security and on to the train. Not a hope in hell, as was confirmed by txts exchanged with my friend at ARMF, Manuel Ramos.
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The sun briefly appeared through the clouds and gave a pleasing glint off Garratt 282F0421's side in the yard outside ARMF's workshops in Lleida. |
Eventually, not quite 2 hours late, we were in the air and heading to Barcelona. The flight was uneventful and we touched down having made up no time but lost none either. We were about 1 hour 45 minutes late arriving at about a little after 15:20. This gave me about 40 minutes to get to my train. I still thought I didn't have a hope. I was pleasantly surprised to get my bag within 10 minutes of landing so with 30 minutes to go I went off in search of taxi, expecting a big queue. But no! Things were starting to work out. However the moment I got in the taxi I realised I has forgotten the little bit of Spanish I knew but managed to get over to the taxi driver where I wanted to go and that I was in a rush. A rapid drive followed into the centre of Barcelona. The last time I was here, in 2004, the traffic had been horrendous but on this day it was surprisingly quiet. So, much to my surprise, I found myself walking into Sants station concourse with 15 minutes to go before my train to Lleida! I was soon sat in my standard (turista) class seat, first was too expensive and looking forward to my first trip on a Spanish AVE.
We were away on time but there is little to see initially as the line is in a lengthy tunnel, only appearing above ground after several minutes of running. The German built AVE was soon running pretty swiftly along the still relatively new stretch of railway - this section to Camp de Tarragona was opened in 2008 and from Lleida to there in 2006. The seats in the class 103 AVE are reversible, that is they are always arranged to face the direction of travel. I don't know if it was for this reason or something else but compared to the TGV, TGV derivatives and ICE I have ridden on there was a lot of vibration on this train when running at high speed.
The line runs through some very nice and at times rugged scenery making the trip very worthwhile for that reason alone. At times Iberian gauge routes, closed and open, were to be seen as were a number of British class 37 diesels parked up at one of the construction bases used for the line. As would be expected the line passes through a number of tunnels and also features a number of pretty sharp looking gradients reducing the amount of earthworks needed.
The train stopped at Camp de Tarragona where it really filled up. After here the running was both fast and slow - the train was almost brought to a stand at one point. Presumably we had caught something up, as unlikely as that might seem. The slow running would seem to have made sure we would be late into Lleida. The train was a minute or so down but nothing too bad. From here I had to make my way out to ARMF's depot to meet up with Manuel but first I crossed the road opposite the station and checked into Hotel Ramon Berenguer IV, my base for the next couple of days. Once in I was straight out again and across to the station taxi rank. I had the depot address in a txt on my phone so showed this to the taxi driver, who didn't quite seem to believe I really did want to go there, and we were off. It then seemed the driver didn't entirely know where we were going if I understood what was being said over the radio. However I was soon being driven down some familiar roads and arrived at the depot. ARMF's Garratt 282F0421 was outside the shed in steam and was being attended to by ARMF's Óscar Urgelés. I knew that Manuel had gone to fetch something so, as there is a total language barrier with Óscar, I gave the loco a good look over. I also had a look around the works. Lurking inside is a second Iberian gauge Garratt - 462-0401, a double pacific Garratt now also in the care of ARMF. It is currently under overhaul and will replaced 282F0421 when its boiler certificate expires.
Inside the shed is this double pacific Garratt 0462-0401. This former express passenger loco of the FC Central de Aragón and later RENFE is under overhaul to mainline operating condition.
RENFE 462-0401's buffer beam. The loco was built in 1931.
As I had arrived late in the afternoon and after Manuel had returned it wasn't long before we were heading away from the depot. An early start was in prospect so everyone wanted to get away for a quick drink and something to eat. I found that despite having a hotel room facing the streets outside the station it was fairly quiet so I was able to get a good night's sleep.
Garratt 282F0421 of 1960 outside the shed at Lleida. The loco burns heavy fuel oil which can be smoky, especially when the fuel lines are being purged and the fire extinguished.